Rear view mirrors and wing mirrors provide a driver of a vehicle with a reflected view to the rear of the vehicle. Considering the rear view may be important before and during many maneuvers, including turning, reversing and merging into traffic. The ideal view for each maneuver may be different and the driver may be inclined to adjust the mirror or move the position of his or her head to gain the ideal view. In some cases the driver may need to look behind them directly to gain a particular view which is in a “blind spot” of the mirror.
The need for the driver to adjust the mirror or move his or her head into a comfortable position to gain a desired view may be an annoyance. In addition, if the driver needs to look behind them to check the blind spot the time the driver spends looking at the road ahead may be reduced.
Some mirrors may include mirrored surfaces that are curved. The mirrored surface may provide different levels of magnification of the reflected image in different portions of the mirror. This may allow the mirror to extend the field-of-view provided at certain angles, for example to reduce the size of the blind spot. Such mirrors may however impair the driver's ability to judge distances and speeds of any obstacles or other vehicles seen in the mirror.
With reference to FIG. 1, a vehicle, such as a motor vehicle 2 may comprise a plurality of mirrors as are known in the prior art, such as a rear view mirror 4 and wing mirrors 6.
The rear-view mirror 4 may be provided substantially centrally within the vehicle and may be configured to provide the driver with a view in a substantially central area behind the driver. The wing mirrors 6 may be provided on the left and right sides of the vehicle and may be configured to provide the driver with a view behind and to the left and right sides of the vehicle respectively. The position and/or angular orientation of the mirrors 4, 6 may be adjusted by the driver to provide the desired visibility during driving.
With reference to FIG. 2, a prior art mirror, such as the wing mirror 6, may comprise a housing 8 and a mirror surface 10. The mirrored surface 10 may be supported by a connecting rod 14 coupled to an adjustor 12. The adjustor 12 may be coupled to the housing 8. The adjustor 12 may be an electrically powered adjustor capable of adjusting the angular orientation of the mirrored surface 10 by controlling the orientation of the connecting rod 14. In particular, the angular orientation of the mirrored surface may be controlled to tilt the mirrored surface upwards or downwards and towards or away from the vehicle (e.g. left or right). The adjustor 12 may receive a control signal from a control system (not shown) via a control cable 16. The control system may comprise one or more buttons or switches and/or may comprise a multi-directional control lever. The driver may use the control system to adjust the field-of-view provided by the mirror.
In particular, the mirrors 4, 6 may be adjusted such that vehicles in proximity to the vehicle, either travelling directly behind the vehicle or in an adjacent lane of traffic, can be seen by the driver. Vision of other vehicles may be important when performing certain maneuvers, such as reversing, turning, merging or changing lanes. The driver may adjust the rear view mirror such that driver's view in the rear view mirror is not obscured by any portion of the vehicle behind the driver, e.g. head rests or rear seats of the vehicle. The driver may adjust the wing mirrors such that a rear portion of the vehicle is visible in the mirror, in order that the driver may judge the relative position of other vehicles visible in the mirror.
The mirrors 4, 6 may also be adjusted by the driver when performing certain maneuvers to provide a particular field-of-view desired for the specific maneuver. For example, the driver may adjust the mirror when reversing to provide a better view of an obstacle, such as a bollard, which the driver wants to avoid, or a better view of a road marking which the driver wants to position the vehicle relative to.
Even when the mirrors 4, 6 have been adjusted to provide the best possible view for the driver, certain areas around the vehicle, known as blind spots, may not be visible in the mirrors. In order to check whether another vehicle or an obstacle is present in the blind spot, the driver may be required to turn around to directly look at the blind spot area. Checking the blind spot in this way may reduce the time that the driver is able to look ahead of the vehicle.
In order to reduce the size of the blind spot and limit the need for the driver to turn around, the mirrored surface 10 may be non-planar, for example the mirrored surface may be concave or convex over certain areas of the mirror. The mirror may comprise a combination of concave and convex portions. The non-planar nature of the mirrors may alter the magnification of the reflected image in certain areas, which may provide a wider field-of-view for the driver and may reduce the size of the blind spot. Additionally or alternatively, a portion of the mirror may be angled with respect to another portion of the mirror. This may provide the driver with a broader field-of-view, which may minimize blind spots. For example, with reference to FIG. 1, in order to increase the field-of-view of the driver, an additional mirror, such as a blind spot mirror 18 may be provided. The blind spot mirror 18 may be coupled to the housing 8 of the wing mirror 6. The blind spot mirror may be configured to provide the driver with a view of the blind spot of the wing mirror 6.
Providing a non-planar, or partially angled mirror, as described above, may increase the field-of-view of the driver and/or reduce the size of the blind spot. However, the reflected image provided to the driver may be distorted and the ability of the driver to judge relative positions and speeds of other vehicles or obstacles, visible in the mirror, may be reduced.